This blog-post is a continuation to my two previous posts, so read them first for context:
So, continuing with my story of creating a relationship with Stout. As I started spending more time with him, I started noticing changes in how he would respond to me. After one day, he would no longer greet me with barking and growling when I’d enter his room, but he would greet me with a tail-wag, yaaay lol. Or when he would enter the space I was in, he would come rub up against me asking for some TLC.
When he did growl when rubbing him for instance, I would breathe through my anxieties and assert myself – directing him to stop, slow down and see that him I’m not hurting him in any way. One point I noticed is that it’s important to be patient, to not expect complete trust and intimacy all of the time, in the same way he is patient with me as I moved through my own anxieties and allowed myself to become more and more comfortable with him. And yet, within this patience, to be consistent. Patience and consistency really apply to all points of creation – whether you’re creating a new relationship with someone, creating a business, creating a skill. There’s going to be times where you will be faced with different points and challenges – that’s cool – but then also remain consistent within your application, to look at the different reactions that are coming up, to look for solutions and apply them.
Another cool application was to sit with him while applying Self-Forgiveness at night. You know, those moments at night where you take the time to look at any thoughts or reactions you might have missed during your day and clear yourself and feel yourself ‘emptying out’ and move into your body’s embrace. In sharing that moment with him and moving into my own self-stability, I saw how awesomely stable Stout is and it was a great support in that moment. I also realized that I would have never gotten to see this part in/of him if I hadn’t pushed myself to actually get to know him – a cool reminder not to judge a book by its cover and actually take the time to get to know someone.